that shortstop Addison Russell had been placed on administrative leave after he was accused of domestic violence by his ex-wife.Then Jose Quintana struggled against his former team.The Cubs dropped their second straight game when Quintana was tagged for a three-run homer by Kevan Smith Lewis Brinson Jersey , sending the crosstown White Sox to a 10-4 victory.Russell was placed on leave by Major League Baseball after a blog post attributed to Melisa Reidy contained detailed allegations of years of physical and emotional abuse. The 24-year-old Russell can challenge the leave before an arbitrator, and the leave can be extended for additional seven-day periods if the players’ union agrees. He continues to be paid his $3.2 million salary.“It’s unfortunate, but we’ve got to wait until the hearing and the investigation’s done,” teammate Kyle Schwarber said. “We don’t have, I guess, all the facts, so we have to wait until that wraps up.“It’s something that’s not ideal, but we’re going to have to move forward from this and be able to focus on baseball.”Last year, Reidy posted a photo on her Instagram account with a caption suggesting her husband of about 18 months had been unfaithful to her. In another post, a user — described by Melisa as a close friend — made the accusation that Russell had “hit” his wife. The post was later deleted. Russell denied the allegation and the two divorced.“These allegations are completely false,” Russell said in a statement put out by the union. “I made that clear to Major League Baseball last year and reiterated it to the Cubs today. I’m confident any full and fair investigation will fully exonerate me.”The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central was trimmed to 1 1/2-games over Milwaukee, which rallied for an 8-3 victory at Pittsburgh.The White Sox finished with 19 hits. Daniel Palka also homered, and Ryan LaMarre went 3 for 3 with three RBIs.White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (7-9) struck out eight while pitching seven innings of one-run ball. He improved to 3-0 with a sparkling 0.79 ERA in his last five outings.“I did what I usually do — execute my pitches keep hitters off balance and try to attack the strike zone,” Lopez said through a translator. “It was a very good outing today.”Quintana (13-11) was charged with five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings. The left-hander had been pitching well, going 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA over his previous six starts.“I pushed the margin trying to put on a better show for the fans today,” said Quintana, who made his first start at Guaranteed Rate Field since the White Sox traded him to the Cubs in July 2017. “But every time we go to the mound, we try to do our best.“For now http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey , we’re still in first place and tomorrow is a new day.”Daniel Murphy led off the game with his 12th homer, but the White Sox went ahead to stay with three in the second. Matt Davidson and Welington Castillo singled before Smith hit a drive to center for his second of the year.White Sox manager Rick Renteria sent Palka up to hit for Smith in the sixth, and he responded with a two-run shot for a 6-1 lead.Castillo and Yoan Moncada also had three hits, helping the White Sox even their crosstown series with the Cubs at two games apiece.Murphy had three hits and David Bote had two RBIs for the Cubs.“Their pitcher was good,” manager Joe Maddon said. “Give him some credit too. He’s got good stuff.“I think a big part of why we didn’t look so good was him.”RUSSELL’S FUTURECubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein didn’t want to speculate on Russell’s future with the team.Russell is batting .158 with one RBI in 18 games in September. Maddon said Russell was playing well defensively, but wouldn’t speculate whether off-field issues were affecting him at the plate.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: Schwarber (lower back) returned to the lineup as the DH and went 0 for 4. He said he felt good, although his timing was off.White Sox: INF Jose Abreu (right thigh infection) missed his fourth straight game. He was scheduled to be re-evaluated by doctors later on Friday. Abreu was treated for the condition, caused by an ingrown hair, at a Cleveland hospital on Tuesday. “I’m still a little sore, but I am feeling a little better,” he said through a translator.UP NEXTCubs LHP Jon Lester (16-6, 3.43 ERA) takes the mound against White Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (10-11, 5.77 ERA) on Saturday. Lester is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in his last five starts. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It might seem as if Juan Soto has a big hole to fill in the Washington Nationals‘ lineup, what with Bryce Harper gone.Soto is not the sort to worry about that type of thing, though. Last season’s surprise runner-up as NL Rookie of the Year at age 19, he’s carefree and self-believing as can be, by all accounts.Which is good J. T. Realmuto Jersey , because he could very well be the No. 3 hitter for Washington, counted on to make the offense go. Everyone around Soto seems to think he’ll be up for whatever challenges Year 2 brings.“He’s as ready as you could possibly be at, shoot, 20 years old,” Nationals closer Sean Doolittle said Thursday, before Soto homered for the second consecutive exhibition game. “He has a very mature approach — the way he prepares. He loves doing all the work behind the scenes. He’s always in the cage or in the weight room. Keeps his head down. He’s a quiet guy, by nature, and he doesn’t seek out the spotlight.”Young as he is, Soto sounds like an old soul, speaking about the “process” of spring training during his first taste of big league camp — he started last season, believe it or not, at low-A ball — and getting ready for the regular season “step by step, every day.”Asked whether he can improve on what he showed last year, Soto crossed his arms and replied: “My approach with that is: just the same.”The Nationals certainly would take more of the same.Soto made his debut last May after all of eight games at Double-A and he hit .292 with 22 homers, 25 doubles and 70 RBIs in only 116 games. He walked a whopping 79 times, helping produce a .406 on-base percentage. His slugging percentage was .517. His three multihomer games were the most by a teenager in big league history.“I don’t see any difference from where he was last year to where he is this year. If I had to say anything, maybe a little bit more confident, that he knows he belongs here http://www.marlinsfanproshop.com/authentic-starlin-castro-jersey ,” manager Dave Martinez said. “And that’s a good feeling.”No one is too worried about Soto’s hitting. The two key areas that need shoring up: defense and baserunning.Martinez knows it. So does Soto, who learned left field on the fly in Washington a year ago, having played only seven games there in the minors, where he usually was in right or center.Every morning in Florida, Soto said, he puts in extra work with his glove.“It was almost borderline unfair that we put him out in left field, but it was by necessity,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “What he has shown us, in so many different ways, is the mental maturity and the outstanding makeup of a superstar player. And he is not satisfied.”The quality that stands out to everyone is Soto’s discipline at the plate, something he began honing at the prompting of a hitting coach in the minors.“He doesn’t swing unless it’s a strike. That’s pretty impressive. Pretty hard to do at the highest level when you’re a teenager,” Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said.Turner thinks that skill will help Soto “counteract” whatever adjustments opposing pitchers make when facing him this season.“We saw last year that his approach at the plate is really, really advanced. You don’t see him over-swing and get outside of his mechanics and try to do too much,” Doolittle said. “You see him use the whole field. You see him really dial it in with two strikes. It lends itself to giving himself a good chance to follow up and pick up where he left off. I’m excited to see what he does next.”